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Battle Between Bloomberg and Morgenthau Gets Personal
By
Ben Muessig
Published Dec 5, 2009
Modified Dec 5, 2009
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By
Ben Muessig
Published Dec 5, 2009
Modified Dec 5, 2009
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As Mayor Bloomberg and Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau continue to beef about the $83 million in settlements, fines and forfeitures that the DA's office has stored in 62 bank accounts, inside sources tell the tabloids that personal disagreements are the cause of the squabble.
Apparently, Bloomberg and Morgenthau have long butted heads, but things got ugly when the DA considered charging the city in the aftermath of the Deutsche Bank fire. That ticked off Bloomberg enough to go after the DA, who will be retiring at the end of the month after 34 years. "This is the public's money, and you just can't have two sets of books," said the mayor, who claims his finance commissioner recently uncovered the accounting discrepancy. Morgenthau has described the accusations against him as "chickenshit," and claimed the mayor was attempting to make a "power grab." A source close to the DA had this to say about the Mayor's chances of taking down the 90-year-old: "The mayor is trying to blackjack Morgenthau and they got the wrong guy to blackjack."
The Post editorializes in favor of Morgenthau, arguing that the accounts weren't exactly secret, and that Bloomberg is going after the DA as retaliation for their Deutsche Bank fire dispute, and also because he wants the DA to turn over all of the money his office receives as settlements (the DA historically splits the settlement cash 60/40 between the city and the state). Meanwhile, the Daily News digs up some real dirt on the DA, reporting that the license plate on his truck is illegally obscured by a clear protective cover — an offense punishable by a $65 fine. Morgenthau said he had never noticed that plate and that it is there to protect against "corrosion."
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Ben Muessig
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